Graham jabs Santorum over immigration
Sen. Lindsey Graham panned former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) during Wednesday night’s undercard GOP presidential debate for not taking tangible strides on immigration reform while in the Senate.
“I like Rick, but I don’t remember the Santorum plan when I was in the Senate,” Graham (S.C.) said in response to Santorum’s accusation that most of the field supports amnesty for those in the U.S. illegally.
{mosads}When Santorum pushed back and noted that he did promote a border security bill in 2006, Graham doubled down and pointed out that the bill “went nowhere” and didn’t address undocumented immigrants at all.
“How many Democrats did you have?” he asked. “I can tell you — none.”
Graham helped write the Gang of Eight immigration bill that passed through the Senate in 2013 with bipartisan support but stalled out in the Senate. That bill provided for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, which has been panned by Santorum and other conservatives as amnesty.
Santorum has repeatedly called for for limitations on both illegal and legal immigration, arguing that American workers bear the brunt of the economic effects of illegal immigration.
“A great leader will say the objective [of] law in America is to do what’s in the best interest of America and what’s in the best interest of America is to look at wages, look at employment,” he said.
He added that about half of the estimated 11 million people in America illegally have overstayed their visas.
“We know who they are, we should know where they are,” he said. “You can solve half the problem by telling them to return to their home country.”
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